12

$100

7 years ago, I was living in Shenyang, China. It’s a city that I’ll never forget.

I was miserable, I was depressed. I couldn’t speak a word of Chinese or understand its culture. The only reason why I stayed was because I wanted to support my ex.

We had been together for 7 years since high school. And I knew China was going to be a stressful life, but how it ended up was nothing I could’ve imagined.

I did everything I could at the time to support my ex. Anything that could make his life easier and happier, I did it.

I would cook him 2-3 meals a day.I would massage his back if he felt stressed.And anything he asked of me, I did without question to the best of my abilities.

But somewhere down the road, he began to change.He started becoming more impatient and demanding.

He began telling me what I should change. He told me I was no longer allowed to hang out with any of my guy friends. He told me I didn’t look good enough, that I had to put on better makeup and to find better-looking clothes. And more often than not, he’d call me stupid. Which hurt, a lot.

Despite all that, I hid how I felt and took everything in because I knew work must’ve been stressful. I did what he asked. I wanted to prove to him that I could be better, that I would be someone he could be proud of.

I did everything I could to change, but he still wasn’t satisfied.

And then it happened. He suggested a 1 year dating plan where we’d see other people anywhere for a few months up to a year. I remember him saying,

“Tiffany, I know we had been together since high school. We been each other’s sweethearts. How would I know if you‘re the one and I’m the one for you if we never explored and saw other people.

How would we know?”

I didn’t agree at first, but he was relentless. He kept insisting that we try the new dating plan over and over again, to the point where I felt like that was the only choice I had, because if I didn’t agree… he would leave me.

It didn’t make sense to me. Why would you have to date other people when you know who you really love?

My heart sank. I was confused and hurt. I didn’t understand why this had happened. Even though I didn’t want to go with his request, I told him I’d give it a try because I didn’t want to lose the person I had been with for a third of my life.

But as soon as I agreed, he completely changed.

He started drinking more. He started going out late at nights, ignoring my messages. He wouldn’t be home most of the week and messages asking him if he’d be home for dinner went unanswered. I was home, alone, in a country whose language I didn’t speak a word of, in a relationship I wasn’t sure would last. I felt depressed. I felt like my entire world was falling apart.

The moment when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, he took it one step further. He showed me pictures of the girls he had been flirting with, asking me if I thought they were pretty. I didn’t know how to react, but it was rude and disrespectful. He had disregarded the full 7 years of our relationship and it hurt me to my core knowing that this is the person I had once loved.

Was this still the same person I knew? Why did this happen?

He’d become a complete stranger within a few months of agreeing to his request. He was no longer the person I once knew.

This continued on for weeks until one day, he told me that he had booked a ticket for me to return back to the states… because I’d be an inconvenience to the girls he wanted to bring home.

My heart broke into a million pieces. My mind fogged up, I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. I had a feeling this was eventually going to happen but it hurt me more than I could’ve ever believed possible.

I didn’t know what to do with my life. I had nobody to talk to. Family and friends didn’t understand. They kept pitying me and telling me that I’d find someone else eventually.But that wasn’t what I needed.

What I needed was to find myself, to discover who I could be and what I was capable of.I had lived life giving my everything to someone who didn’t appreciate me and in the end cast me away. I had never given myself a chance to discover what it was that I wanted and what my passions were.

I started writing because I needed a way to channel out my thoughts and feelings, to vent my frustrations. It was the hardest thing to do coming out from a failed relationship, and scary because I lacked confidence. I knew I wasn’t good at writing, but I did it anyways. I told myself I had to at least try. I knew that as long as I set my mind on it, I could do anything.

So day after day, I wrote – even when I was sick, even when I was tired, even when I was crying and wasn’t in the mood. I kept writing anyways. All I had was time.

Eventually, I started gaining traction on Medium. I started getting some side money. Publishers began to ask me if I wanted to write for them, an honor I’ll never forget and remain thankful for.

Writing has helped me realize that I’m a lot more capable than I had initially thought. It has helped me voice my thoughts, express my feelings and allowed me to discover a part of myself that I never knew existed.

Writing has changed my life, but it wasn’t enough. I decided to travel because it was something I had always wanted to do but never had a chance to do so.

I packed my bags, booked a one way ticket to Southeast Asia and never looked back since.

I don’t know what’s next or what I’m going to do, but I’m going to keep rebuilding my life. I’m going to discover who I am and figure out what it is that I want to do, while writing in Southeast Asia.

A devoted fan

$5 or more per month ∙ 3 patrons

You won’t regret this.

You get 1st dibs on my stories & Youtube videos, which I’ll publish on my Patreon feed. Stories will reflect upon a sole lesson you can use to reshape the life you want. Videos will bring you my life as a digital nomad, writer, fitness freak, however you see me!

Goals

$100 of $1,200 per month

Hitting this monthly goal will not only cover my entire rent in Southeast Asia but pay for food expenses as well, allowing me to write more, upload more videos on Youtube and continue rebuilding my life. If this goal is reached, I'll be forever grateful and I'll make an exclusive, special video that'll share my plans of what will happen next in my life as a way to thank you all.

1 of 1

7 years ago, I was living in Shenyang, China. It’s a city that I’ll never forget.

I was miserable, I was depressed. I couldn’t speak a word of Chinese or understand its culture. The only reason why I stayed was because I wanted to support my ex.

We had been together for 7 years since high school. And I knew China was going to be a stressful life, but how it ended up was nothing I could’ve imagined.

I did everything I could at the time to support my ex. Anything that could make his life easier and happier, I did it.

I would cook him 2-3 meals a day.I would massage his back if he felt stressed.And anything he asked of me, I did without question to the best of my abilities.

But somewhere down the road, he began to change.He started becoming more impatient and demanding.

He began telling me what I should change. He told me I was no longer allowed to hang out with any of my guy friends. He told me I didn’t look good enough, that I had to put on better makeup and to find better-looking clothes. And more often than not, he’d call me stupid. Which hurt, a lot.

Despite all that, I hid how I felt and took everything in because I knew work must’ve been stressful. I did what he asked. I wanted to prove to him that I could be better, that I would be someone he could be proud of.

I did everything I could to change, but he still wasn’t satisfied.

And then it happened. He suggested a 1 year dating plan where we’d see other people anywhere for a few months up to a year. I remember him saying,

“Tiffany, I know we had been together since high school. We been each other’s sweethearts. How would I know if you‘re the one and I’m the one for you if we never explored and saw other people.

How would we know?”

I didn’t agree at first, but he was relentless. He kept insisting that we try the new dating plan over and over again, to the point where I felt like that was the only choice I had, because if I didn’t agree… he would leave me.

It didn’t make sense to me. Why would you have to date other people when you know who you really love?

My heart sank. I was confused and hurt. I didn’t understand why this had happened. Even though I didn’t want to go with his request, I told him I’d give it a try because I didn’t want to lose the person I had been with for a third of my life.

But as soon as I agreed, he completely changed.

He started drinking more. He started going out late at nights, ignoring my messages. He wouldn’t be home most of the week and messages asking him if he’d be home for dinner went unanswered. I was home, alone, in a country whose language I didn’t speak a word of, in a relationship I wasn’t sure would last. I felt depressed. I felt like my entire world was falling apart.

The moment when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, he took it one step further. He showed me pictures of the girls he had been flirting with, asking me if I thought they were pretty. I didn’t know how to react, but it was rude and disrespectful. He had disregarded the full 7 years of our relationship and it hurt me to my core knowing that this is the person I had once loved.

Was this still the same person I knew? Why did this happen?

He’d become a complete stranger within a few months of agreeing to his request. He was no longer the person I once knew.

This continued on for weeks until one day, he told me that he had booked a ticket for me to return back to the states… because I’d be an inconvenience to the girls he wanted to bring home.

My heart broke into a million pieces. My mind fogged up, I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. I had a feeling this was eventually going to happen but it hurt me more than I could’ve ever believed possible.

I didn’t know what to do with my life. I had nobody to talk to. Family and friends didn’t understand. They kept pitying me and telling me that I’d find someone else eventually.But that wasn’t what I needed.

What I needed was to find myself, to discover who I could be and what I was capable of.I had lived life giving my everything to someone who didn’t appreciate me and in the end cast me away. I had never given myself a chance to discover what it was that I wanted and what my passions were.

I started writing because I needed a way to channel out my thoughts and feelings, to vent my frustrations. It was the hardest thing to do coming out from a failed relationship, and scary because I lacked confidence. I knew I wasn’t good at writing, but I did it anyways. I told myself I had to at least try. I knew that as long as I set my mind on it, I could do anything.

So day after day, I wrote – even when I was sick, even when I was tired, even when I was crying and wasn’t in the mood. I kept writing anyways. All I had was time.

Eventually, I started gaining traction on Medium. I started getting some side money. Publishers began to ask me if I wanted to write for them, an honor I’ll never forget and remain thankful for.

Writing has helped me realize that I’m a lot more capable than I had initially thought. It has helped me voice my thoughts, express my feelings and allowed me to discover a part of myself that I never knew existed.

Writing has changed my life, but it wasn’t enough. I decided to travel because it was something I had always wanted to do but never had a chance to do so.

I packed my bags, booked a one way ticket to Southeast Asia and never looked back since.

I don’t know what’s next or what I’m going to do, but I’m going to keep rebuilding my life. I’m going to discover who I am and figure out what it is that I want to do, while writing in Southeast Asia.

A devoted fan

$5 or more per month ∙ 3 patrons

You won’t regret this.

You get 1st dibs on my stories & Youtube videos, which I’ll publish on my Patreon feed. Stories will reflect upon a sole lesson you can use to reshape the life you want. Videos will bring you my life as a digital nomad, writer, fitness freak, however you see me!